The relatively cold, wet summer season of 2013 erased the 3% water sales gains of the previous year. None the less, CWD maintained its aggressive philosophy of reinvesting in the water system, all the while maintaining some of the lowest water rates in Ohio.That being said, CWD was once again fortunate to achieve a number of significant accomplishments while finishing the year in the financial “black”.

The following is a summary of the major accomplishments of 2013.

In an effort to provide long term stability and continuity to this department, Mr. Brent Burrier was appointed to the position of Assistant Superintendent of the Water Department on Friday, December 13, 2013. Brent completed his undergraduate studies in Civil Engineering at Ohio University in 1998 and received his Professional Engineer (P.E.), certificate in Civil Engineering in 2003. He practiced civil engineer at Cooper and Associates, LLP from 1999-2011. In May, 2011 he was hired as the Facilities Engineer at the Canton Water Department.Mr. Burrier brings both professionalism and a strong level of technical aptitude to the department and has proven to be a very valuable asset.

Understanding the inherent value of Canton’s source water aquifers, CWD contracted with environmental experts at Bennett & Williams Environmental Consultants to develop a comprehensive Source Water Protection Management Plan for the department. This is being done to help ensure Canton has an abundant, clean, safe supply of potable water for generations to come. This is a multi-year projecttherefore future progress reports will be forthcoming.

CWD contracted with M.E. Simpson Co., Inc. to launch the first system wide valve maintenance program since the early 1970’s. The initial year of this multi-year program was limited to Canton’s largest and most critical valves. Approximately 932 valves ranging in size from 8” to 42” were located, accessed and fully exercised to ensure functionality.·A sub-foot G.P.S. location was also collected for future incorporation into a Geographical Information System (G.I.S.) mapping system. This program will continue over the next several years until all 9000+ distribution system valves have been located, exercised and restored to good working order. This is a major step in improving operational efficiency and reducing service interruptions for our valued customers.

Another major accomplishment this year was the joint purchase of the “Diano” property by the CWD and the Collections Systems Department.This 50 acre tract of land is located adjacent to the NE Water Treatment Plant property.It should provide space to dump clean fill materials for the next 30+ years without having to travel off site. That makes this a very important, strategic property acquisition for the respective departments.

A tremendous amount of time and effort was also spent this year preparing for the system-wide water meter and Meter Transmitting Unit (MTU) replacement program. The Canton Water Department was one of the first in the country to install an automated meter reading system back in 1998. Although initially projected to last 20 years, the batteries that power the MTU’s portion of this system began to fail en masse after only 13 years. After considerable deliberation, the decision was made to immediately undertake a large scale replacement program whereby all 36,500 residential MTU’s and water meters would be replaced by an outside contractor. The city hired Burgess & Niple Consulting Engineers to assist with the arduous task of determining the best way to proceed with this complex, multi-faceted project. B & N’s dogged efforts during the planning, specification writing, screening, bidding and selection process proved invaluable. Through great effort and some good fortune the project, which was estimated to cost the rate payers $13-$15M, came in around $10M with all the contractors and vendors being established, top-notch professionals. This is great news for our rate paying customers!The project will utilize local certified plumbers and is set to begin in earnest during the summer of 2014.

The Canton Water Department would like to thank the Mayor, Director of Public Service, Director of Public Safety, Law Director, Auditor, Treasurer and members of City Council for their valuable support throughout the year. I would also like to thank the outstanding employees of the Canton Water Department for their dedicated service to this department and the community in which we live.

Utilities Billing & Collection Division

Electronic PaymentsNew! Now you can pay your utility bills on-line. Click on the following link to get started with this easy to use, convenient, on-line payment system.

Do you think you qualify for a discount on your home sewer or sanitation service?Go to Canton Utilities where you can get the Homstead (PDF·) form to see if you qualify for a discount on your bill.

Automatic Payment PlanThe Canton Water Department is pleased to announce for your convenience, an Automatic Payment Plan. Your Utility Bill can now be automatically paid from your savings or checking account. To set up this time saving feature, please download or print the Canton Utility Billing Automatic Payment Plan form by clicking on the link below, then follow the instructions.

As we leave another winter behind, i would like to first and foremost thank the dedicated, hard working men and women of the Canton Water Department who kept the water flowing through some of the worst weather conditions that Ohio could muster. Although few realize what they do and the sacrifices they make, we are all indebted to their service.

Founded in 1869, the Canton Water Department has been Stark County's leading drinking water supplier for 142 years. That being said, the casual observer may believe we have nothing more to learn or

The Canton Water Department obtains 100% of its water from underground wells. Our wells extend hundreds of feet deep into sand and gravel aquifers that were created long ago by glacial activity. These natural aquifers provide Canton with an average of 24 million gallons of water per day. We have three separate well fields that supply water to our three water treatment plants.

Backup measures

Should the need ever arise, we have several protective backup systems built into our utility that enable us to ensure a dependable flow of drinking water to our consumers. As previously mentioned, Canton has three separate water treatment plants and well fields. If one plant is taken off-line, the other two plants can make up the difference in water production.

The City also has 27 million gallons of drinking water stored in enclosed reservoirs. This quantity represents about one day's supply of water and is kept in reserve as a precautionary measure. Another backup system is the new 2100 horsepower Caterpillar Diesel generator. This powerful generator can provide enough electrical power to operate our Sugarcreek Plant in the event of a widespread power outage.

We also have two interconnections with the North Canton Water System which are normally kept in a closed position. In an emergency, however, these valves could be opened and potable water supplied to our system or vice versa depending on the need. All of the redundant and overlapping "backup" systems described above ensure that the Canton Water Department can provide a dependable supply of drinking water to all of our consumers.

What are sources of contamination to drinking water?

Contaminants that may be present in source water include:

(A) Microbial contaminants, such as viruses and bacteria, which may come from sewage treatment plants, septic systems, agricultural livestock operations and wildlife;

(B) Inorganic contaminants, such as salts and metals, which can be naturally-occurring or result from urban storm water runoff, industrial or domestic wastewater discharges, oil and gas production, mining, or farming;

(C) Pesticides and herbicides, which may come from a variety of sources such as agriculture, urban storm water runoff, and residential uses;

(D) Organic chemical contaminants, including synthetic and volatile organic chemicals, which are by-products of industrial processes and petroleum production, and can also come from gas stations, urban storm water runoff, and septic systems;

(E) Radioactive contaminants, which can be naturally-occurring or be the result of oil and gas production and mining activities.

Who needs to take special precautions?

Some people may be more vulnerable to contaminants in drinking water than the general population. Immuno-compromised persons such as persons with cancer undergoing chemotherapy, persons who have undergone organ transplants, people with HIV/AIDS or other immune system disorders, some elderly persons, and infants can be particularly at risk from infection. These people should seek advice about drinking water from their health care providers. EPA/CDC guidelines on appropriate means to lessen the risk of infection by Cryptosporidium and other microbial contaminants are available from the Safe Drinking Water Hotline (1-800-426-4791).

Water quality monitoring

The EPA requires regular sampling of the City's water supply to ensure drinking water safety. Each year the Water Department conducts over 20,000 tests for more than 100 different substances. The good news is none of the contaminants that we detected exceed EPA established Maximum Contaminant Levels or resulted in a violation of drinking water standards.

Only a very small percentage of the contaminants tested for exist in our water at detectable levels. The following tables identify the contaminants that were detected. Note: The Ohio EPA requires us to monitor for some contaminants less than once per year because the concentrations of these contaminants do not change frequently. Some of the data, though accurate, are more than one year old.